The knee is a critical part of the body. In addition to its articulation that enables us to stand, walk and sit, the knee allows us to kneel, unless the knee joint or its surface has become overly sensitized or has been replaced. Certain mechanical and structural problems can make the knee too sore to be knelt upon, or the action of kneeling may harm the joint. For some, kneeling is medically prohibited due to the stress placed upon the knee joint. This may occur in a natural knee, but is most often associated with a knee that has been surgically repaired, or replaced with a mechanical one. Lower leg amputees have special concerns when it comes to getting down on ones knee, since a sensitive leg stub may disallow any contact and be incapable of providing support without injury.
Even though a person may know better than to kneel, there are times when it is convenient and perhaps even necessary, for example, when a dropped object rolls under a piece of furniture. Though there may be other ways of retrieving the object, the most straightforward solution often involves kneeling. Some tasks are simply much easier to accomplish when one is able to kneel.
The marketplace offers a variety of knee pads and guards that cushion or shield the knee in the hope of reducing injury. Most of the currently available items have the form of a pad that attaches to the leg by means of a sleeve or by using straps or clips. The pads are made of foam or gel or may be fluid-filled. One example that stands out from the more common devices is a product known as the “Patella-T Orthopedic Fluid-Based Kneepad”, described by Visco, et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,029. Although the kneepad covered by that design still touches the knee itself, the device does take special care to cushion the patella (kneecap). Most currently available kneepads are indeed nothing more than a pad; they merely provide a cushion for the knee against impact or load and nothing more. At best, currently available devices simply distribute the load encountered when resting on ones knee over a wider area in an attempt to reduce localized pressure points.
In addition to pads, the existing art describes various forms of guards and shields. Worden's U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,239 shows a knee guard that attaches to the lower leg of the user just above the ankle. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,592 a knee guard is described by Larson that shields against lateral impact as well as rearward impact from the front even while explicitly allowing the wearer to kneel in direct contact with the ground or other kneeling surface. Larson's device attaches to the thigh above the protected knee. Though neither of these two devices attach to the knee, both allow the knee to bear the load of the body when in a kneeling position.
The invention described here has advantages over the prior art in that it completely offloads the knee when used in a kneeling position. It applies no pressure whatsoever to the knee and makes no contact with the knee or the leg below the knee. This invention is so protective that lower leg amputees may use it to kneel. Adaptations of the described invention afford similar protection to those who are not able to lean comfortably on an elbow and to those who cannot assume a sitting posture that would apply pressure to the pelvic or gluteal regions.